Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

2010 will be the year we take America back–back from the brink of President Obama’s “Hope” to “Change” our country to a third world Socialist nation!

It’s been a long, hard year of bitter battles that we’ve not always won. But we have made an impact and must continue to keep the pressure on until we once again reclaim the country we inherited. The country that encourages productivity and ingenuity, not sloth and complacency. The country where possibilities are only limited by the bounds of one’s dreams. The country where people rule the government, not the other way around. The country that acknowledges the Creator’s role in the founding and successful rise of our nation. The country where freedom of religion is not interpreted as freedom from religion. The country where citizens take personal responsibility for their successes and failures, and stop looking for someone to blame for the latter. And the country where people rule the government, not the other way around.

Have a Happy and Safe New Year everyone. Our fight begins again in earnest next week!

WND 2009 ‘Person of the Year’ is …

the Tea Party participant.

Though it’s doubtful the liberal rag, Time Magazine, will agree, conservative online news source World Net Daily has named the new conservative protester as Person of the Year. The men and women who, until this year, never carried a sign, gathered at a public protest, or marched for a cause continue to challenge a runaway government completely controlled by liberal Democrats.

It’s an individual like Nate, whose transition was captured on a video. He started out as an Obama voter proud to see the first black president. Now he’s a “man who has buyer’s remorse and becomes an active defender of the Constitution and limited government.”

The mainstream media and their Democrat allies sought to label the grassroots movement an “astroturf” campaign, implying participants were paid to show up at rallies, but the ranks of these amateur political dissidents just keep growing. Other liberals counted on the energy of conservative protesters to fizzle out. Still others expected President Obama’s “Hope & Change” policies to positively impact the American economy and take the wind from the sails of the protest movement.

But the liberals’ talents for soothsaying proved to be lacking. Conservatives are organizing and networking like never before, online and on the street. Some officials estimated the crowd that gathered on September the 12th in Washington, DC was the largest ever to assemble on the Capitol Mall. And conservative pundits’ predictions that Obama’s Socialist policies will adversely affect the nation’s economy continue to come true.

Though the President and his Socialist-Democrat Lieutenants Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid continue to cram unwanted “Change” down the throats of the American people. More and more are recognizing Obama’s game plan is destroying “Hope” in America with massive new spending, record deficits and debt, and no positive impact on the US economy. The growth of the movement is evident in the President’s precipitous decline in the polls.

The Tea Party participants’ willingness to stand up for freedom, while standing in the sights of liberal Democrats’ big guns, their willingness to sacrifice time and money to make their voices heard, their willingness to learn new technology and take the fight to formerly foreign battlefields, all have earned the Tea Party participant the title of WND’s 2009 Person of the Year.

That was then, this is now

After Harry Reid and his 59 cronies in the US Senate voted on Christmas Eve to cut Medicare and tax health care benefits of the American middle class, President Obama proudly exclaimed the vote is moving us “toward the end of a nearly century-long struggle” and that the bill “includes the toughest measures ever taken to hold the insurance industry accountable.”

His remarks are hypocritical in light of what he said on the campaign trail.

But last year an Obama campaign ad blasted Senator John McCain (R-AZ) for proposing what the President is now praising in Reid’s health care bill. Yes, we have the proof because the President’s political hacks failed to seek out and destroy the evidence! The President’s campaign ad may not live long on YouTube if recent history is any guide. So view it while you can.

The first video is Obama’s original campaign ad that slams John McCain for proposing to pay for health care reform by taxing health care benefits and cutting Medicare–both of which are contained in Reid’s health care bill Obama seems so giddy about now. The video below is an edited version of the campaign ad that was adapted to target Reid’s bill.

Please rate the second video if you like it, because the liberals have already started giving it low marks.

Original Campaign Ad Slamming John McCain

Adapted Ad to Fit Reid’s Health Care Bill

Health Care Lies by Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)

For weeks, Senator Blanche Lincoln allowed Arkansas voters to believe she just might save them from the prospect of a government-run healthcare system. It turned out she had no intention of listening to the majority of Arkansans on this issue. Senator Lincoln chose to represent the Harry Reid/leftist zealot-wing of the Democrat Party, against the will of the majority of Arkansas voters.

Following her vote to support passage of the final version of Harry Reid’s 2,034 page bill, Senator Lincoln sent an “eNewsletter” to those who had previously contacted her about this issue. Following the Democrat game plan that’s been used throughout the debate on health care reform, Lincoln’s letter is filled with lies, omissions, and misrepresentations.

Senator Lincoln Lies About Her Priorities

Near the end of her newsletter, Lincoln claims “my first priority remains the people of Arkansas and not any political party or partisan organization, and I will not support legislation that does not serve the best interests of our great state.” In fact, her vote to support this legislation is a slap in the face to the 64% of Arkansans who oppose the bill.

It was obvious to anyone paying attention as far back as November that Arkansans were demanding she vote against this bill, and Lincoln would have to have been wearing blinders if she didn’t notice. Before she voted for cloture on the bill drafted by the Senate Finance Committee, Zogby released a poll showing the sitting Senator held a slight lead over her potential Republican challengers in next year’s election. When asked who they would vote for if Lincoln voted for the health care bill, the tide turned.

But when voters were asked how they would vote in a Lincoln-Baker race if Lincoln voted in favor of the healthcare legislation, the incumbent Democrat fell behind her possible GOP challenger 37-49.

It’s quite obvious Lincoln’s first priority wasn’t with the people of Arkansas when she voted for Reid’s government takeover of the US health care system.

Senator Lincoln Lies About Medicare Cuts

Lincoln’s newsletter also claims “I have worked hard in this bill to ensure seniors will not see a reduction in the Medicare coverage and benefits they have always relied upon.” But that’s not consistent with the near $500 billion in cuts to the program that even President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services says is likely to cause fewer doctors to treat medicare patients.

Though she states “I believe in the promise our government made to working Americans – that if we work hard, Medicare will be there to help us in our golden years,” she voted for Reid’s bill that will, according to Senator Tom Coburn (a medical doctor from Oklahoma), deny treatment for ailing seniors!

For instance, the Reid bill (in sections 3403 and 2021) explicitly empowers Medicare to deny treatment based on cost. An Independent Medicare Advisory Board created by the bill—composed of permanent, unelected and, therefore, unaccountable members—will greatly expand the rationing practices that already occur in the program.

Evidently Lincoln believes in empty government promises to Arkansas’ seniors!

Senator Lincoln Lies About Transparency

Lincoln also boasts in her newsletter, “Throughout this process, I have pushed to ensure the Senate is conducting this debate in a public and transparent manner.” But her definition of transparent may not be as clear as one would expect.

Though she did set up a health care resources page on her website, Lincoln didn’t quite fulfill her promise to post ALL relevant information on the page in a timely manner.

In fact, Lincoln was a participant in closed-door meetings that forged the final version of Reid’s bill. The text of that “compromise” apparently wasn’t considered a “health care resource” because it wasn’t posted on her site for all to see. Even though Harry Reid sent the text to the Congressional Budget Office two weeks before the first vote on the bill, Lincoln agreed to keep it hidden from her constituents in Arkansas!

“[T]he real action on the bill is taking place not on the Senate floor, but in [Majority Leader Harry] Reid’s office, just steps away. That’s where he’s struggling to bring together the liberal and moderate wings of his caucus, in an effort to get the 60 votes he needs to thwart the united GOP front that will otherwise prevent the bill from winning final approval. On Sunday, Obama will address a closed meeting of Senate Democrats, presumably for a pep talk, and also to give them more guidance on just what he wants from a final health bill”

Apparently the Senator grew tired composing her newsletter, because she lumped several blatant lies all in one sentence when she said, “I support the revised Senate health care plan because it will curb rising health care costs over the long term, expand access to quality, affordable, health insurance plans to more than 400,000 uninsured Arkansans, and reduce the federal deficit by $132 billion in the next 10 years-all without a new government plan that places taxpayers at risk.”

Senator Lincoln Lies About Bill’s Impact on Deficit

First, the $132 billion deficit reduction is a flat-out lie that was exposed the day before Lincoln voted for passage of the Senate bill. Democrats, including our less-than-transparent Senator Lincoln utilized accounting methods that would have been the envy of Bernie Madoff and Enron to come up with their fictitious figure.

Harry Reid had to shift more than $200 billion in costs to a separate “doctor fix” bill to arrive at his contrived figures. Taking that into account instantly puts the net cost of the bill in the red, but there’s even more trickery up the sleeves of Blanche Lincoln and Harry Reid. The day before the final vote, the CBO released a statement showing the devious Democrats were inappropriately double counting $300 billion to arrive at their claimed deficit reduction.

It won’t be any surprise this CBO report didn’t make the Senator’s health care resources page either.

Assuming Lincoln, Reid and the rest of their Democrat colleagues didn’t take any as yet undiscovered lessons from Madoff and Enron, we’re looking at a $370 billion increase in the deficit over the next 10 years. Hardly the deficit neutral bill promised by Lincoln and the other dishonest Democrats.

Senator Lincoln Lies About Bill’s Impact on Health Care Costs

According to the Obama Department of Health and Human Services’ own Office of the Actuary (OACT), Reid’s bill will increase national health expenditures over the next 10 years. The OACT reports that we can expect health care costs through 2019 will be $234 billion more than they will if Congress doesn’t pass this bill. OACT states that, if this bill passes, $20.90 of every $100 will be spent on health care in 2019. If Congress does nothing, Americans are expected to $20.80 of every $100 for health care in that year.

Contrary to Lincoln’s claim, health care costs will increase under the bill she voted for last week.

Senator Lincoln Lies About Government Plan

Actually Senator Lincoln claimed this bill doesn’t have a “a new government plan that places taxpayers at risk.” What she actually means is this isn’t going to be a taxpayer funded government plan, but a plan that is owned by private industry and run by the government.

The bill calls for the government to dictate to private insurance companies what benefits they must include in their plan, who must be qualified to participate in their plan, and how much they can charge for their plan.

A government-run plan, but privately owned. How long does anyone expect that to last?

At least 64% of Arkansans don’t expect it to last, and more likely expect it to turn into a single-payer government system before all is said and done. Senator Lincoln doesn’t represent Arkansans, she represents big-government liberals seeking more control of our lives and freedoms.

Blanche Lincoln is perfectly willing to twist the facts and make back room deals behind closed doors to satisfy her wealthy out-of-state donors. With their money, Lincoln believes she can do the bidding of Harry Reid and Barack Obama then spend enough to make Arkansas voters believe her lies.

Merry Christmas to All!

It’s time to step away from the keyboard for a few days to spend time with family and friends in celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We at America, You Asked For It! want to wish everyone (yes, even our political enemies) a very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

CBO: Reid’s bill WILL increase deficit by $170 billion

Once again, Democrats are telling bold-faced lies when they claim their legislation will reduce the deficit and extend the life of Medicare! This time they’re using Bernie Madoff/Enron style accounting tricks to camouflage their lies.

In response to a request by Senator Jeff Sessions, the CBO today released a statement correcting the misrepresentations being propagated by Senate Democrats. Reid, President Obama, and other Democrats are claiming the CBO score indicates the Senate bill will reduce the deficit by $130 billion over the next 10 years and add 9 years to the lifespan of Medicare.

But the CBO says not so fast. It appears Democrats took great care in phrasing their request to the non-partisan agency, playing a sort of shell game to fool the American people with a slight of hand. Evidently, hen Harry Reid requested the CBO score, he only asked for the impact on the Medicare trust fund balance. That doesn’t sound so bad until you understand what the CBO calls “Trustfund Accounting.”

The Medicare Trust Fund doesn’t actually hold hard assets. It’s more like a drawer full of IOUs issued by the federal government, if it’s operating in the black. The Trust Fund takes money in and pays money out. If it takes in more than it pays out, the government takes the surplus and issues the Trust Fund an IOU.

Now it’s not like the government puts that money in a savings account. Our never frugal government spends that money it collected to pay for Medicare on something else! No plan on how to pay off the IOU when it comes due either. Just pass the debt on down to future generations.

The Trust Fund Accounting system used by the CBO doesn’t account for what happens to the cash once it’s removed from the Trust Fund, or the government’s ability to repay the borrowed money. This accounting method treats Uncle Sam’s IOU the same as you and I treat our bank account. Just like the folks at the Medicare office could walk up to a teller and say “I’d like to withdraw all our money.”

The problem is, there is no money. It’s just a piece of paper that’s waiting for some future Congress to raise taxes on our children to repay the money.

In the current legislation, the CBO saw Reid’s bill would result in approximately $300 billion more being taken into the Medicare Trust Fund than it would pay out in the next. So Obama, Reid, and Pelosi will write out a professional looking IOU, hand it to the Medicare Trust Fund accountant and leave with $300 billion of taxpayers’ money. That money will be used to create new federal programs, fund abortions, pay bureaucrats, and other creative ways government finds to squander money.

“To describe the full amount of HI trust fund savings as both improving the government’s ability to pay future Medicare benefits and financing new spending outside of Medicare would essentially double-count a large share of those savings and thus overstate the improvement in the government’s fiscal position.”

But to make it look nice, Reid and his Democrat cohorts rigged it to look like $130 billion won’t be spent. So, in effect the deficit should be reduced by $130 billion. Sounds good right?

The problem is, they’re also trying to claim the entire $300 billion (of which they’ve blown $170 billion) is used to extend the viability of Medicare. Put simply, they want to spend the $170 billion now and say the $170 billion IOU they issued is going to keep Medicare going. Now, no one can be 100% sure, but it seems like doctors will probably start quitting when they begin getting government IOUs instead of greenbacks for compensation!

Obama, Reid, and other Democrats are counting that $170 billion twice. They’ve taken $300 billion from us they say we’ll get back in Medicare benefits. They’ve spent all but $130 billion of it, but continue to claim they’ve set aside the entire $300 billion for our benefit!

Here’s the real kicker. The only way we get that $170 billion in benefits we were promised is to raise taxes on our children!

This is nothing short of stealing from future generations! Harry Reid and his Democrat Senate comrades are nothing more than two-bit con artists who would sell our children’s future to satisfy our President who suffers with an “unprecedented” level of egotism and narcissism.

Tomorrow at 7:00 AM Eastern they vote to saddle our children and grandchildren with higher taxes, higher deficits, and a lower standard of living. Tomorrow morning, they will slap themselves on the back and congratulate themselves for conning us out of more of our money.

They’ll be home until the middle of January. Make a point of letting your Senators know you haven’t been fooled. Make sure they understand you know what they’re up to, and that you’ll do everything in your power to send them home when they’re next up for reelection.

Tell Blanche Lincoln to “Pick up the phone!”

Today or tomorrow, Arkansas Democrat Senator Blanche Lincoln plans to vote again to move Harry Reid’s Senate health care bill toward passage.  This, in spite of the fact that 60% of her constituents oppose the bill.

With a vote looming on such important legislation, legislation that will impact every man, woman, and child in America, one would expect Senator Lincoln to want to hear her constituents’ opinions on the matter.  But no!

She won’t even take their calls.  Her office phone goes unanswered today.  But just in case they’re reading the emails, please click here to email the link for the video below to Senator Lincoln today.  If you’re from out of state, use Zip Code “72023“, and city “Cabot“, street address “112 S. First Street” to be sure the system let’s you through.  (That’s the address of Democrat Representative Marion Berry’s Cabot office.)

Tell Lincoln to “Pick up the phone!” by copying and pasting the following link in your message: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qh7bQ5cocE

You can also try to call her DC office at 202-224-4843, but good luck getting someone to pick up the phone.

Ensign, DeMint to Force Vote on Health Care Bill Unconstitutionality

Press Release from the office of Senator Jim Demint (R-SC)

December 22, 2009 – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) and John Ensign (R-Nevada), raised a Constitutional Point of Order on the Senate floor against the Democrat health care takeover bill on behalf of the Steering Committee, a caucus of conservative senators. The Senate will vote tomorrow on the bill’s constitutionality. “I am incredibly concerned that the Democrats’ proposed individual mandate provision takes away too much freedom and choice from Americans across the country,” said Senator Ensign. “As an American, I felt the obligation to stand up for the individual freedom of every citizen to make their own decision on this issue. I don’t believe Congress has the legal authority to force this mandate on its citizens.” “Forcing every American to purchase a product is absolutely inconsistent with our Constitution and the freedoms our Founding Fathers hoped to protect,” said Senator DeMint. “This is not at all like car insurance, you can choose not to drive but Americans will have no choice whether to buy government-approved insurance. This is nothing more than a bailout and takeover of insurance companies. We’re forcing Americans to buy insurance under penalty of law and then Washington bureaucrats will then dictate what these companies can sell to Americans. This is not liberty, it is tyranny of good intentions by elites in Washington who think they can plan our lives better than we can.” Americans who fail to buy health insurance, according to the Democrats’ bill, would be subject to financial penalties. The senators believe the bill is unconstitutional because the insurance mandate is not authorized by any of the limited enumerated powers granted to the federal government. The individual mandate also likely violates the “takings” clause of the 5th Amendment. The Democrats’ healthcare reform bill requires Americans to buy health insurance “whether or not they ever visit a doctor, get a prescription or have an operation.” If an American chooses not to buy health insurance coverage, they will face rapidly increasing taxes that will rise to $750 or 2% of their taxable income, whichever is greater. The Congressional Budget Office once stated “A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States.” A legal study by scholars at the nonpartisan Heritage Foundation concluded: “An individual mandate to enter into a contract with or buy a particular product from a private party, with tax penalties to enforce it, is unprecedented– not just in scope but in kind–and unconstitutional as a matter of first principles and under any reasonable reading of judicial precedents.”

Ray Stevens: “We the People”

Ray Stevens tells Congress, in his own special way, they’re going to be looking for work after November 2010!

NRA News: UN Doomsday Treaty With Ginny Simone

It’s time to wake up and see what the United Nations and gun ban groups are trying to do to subvert the US Constitution. A must see for anyone who values his/her 2nd Amendment rights!